I am located south of Oil City (located in Venango County) and north of Pittsburgh. Butler is known for being the birthplace of the Bantam Jeep. We have an annual "Jeep Parade" on Main Street filled with war-time and civilian Jeeps of all makes and models every summer (except this one).
If I ever need to sample a body of water I can just drive to Moraine State Park and visit Lake Arthur or two of the small ponds in the park. I also have other places I can visit without trespassing.
I started in microscopy with an L W Scientific monocular scope after my 5th grade science teacher suggested it to my parents (1999). Then I got an Amscope T690 5 Christmases ago.
Now I have an Olympus BX51 for Christmas this year because I wanted to get into DIC microscopy after watching Journey to the Microcosmos on YouTube. It's currently set up for DIY polarizing until I find parts for DIC.